The Courtship Festival
by Fresh blood
Summary: Set after Dawn of the Dragon, expect spoilers. Spyro and Cynder return to Warfang from their absence after Malefor's defeat and they find themselves turning a whole new chapter of their lives. Valentine's day story. Spyro/Cynder.
1. Chapter 1

**OK, took me a week to write this and when I was done it was far too long to post as a one shot chapter so I split it up into smaller chapters, I hope it reads well, it does to me. Credit goes out to Psyclone, the ever present guy with a sharp knife to 'poke' me in the right direction should I start to sway from the desired path. Well I hope you enjoy this, Happy Valentines day! **

Warfang was abuzz with activity. Dragons from across the lands had gathered to participate in their most celebrated event; the courtship festival. It was the time that was most significant to the younger generations, a time for them to choose partners and experience love on a different level than just friends. Older generations also enjoyed the festival; couples remembering the festival when they chose their partner or the numerous dragons that benefited financially by selling the various merchandise that hopeful dragons purchased by the barrel full to try and win the heart of the dragoness they were doting after.

The festival this year, however, was even more significant. Since the war with the apes and the dark dragon Cynder, the dragons had not been able to hold a festival, the gathering of the dragons being a target no one would let slip by. Now that Malefor had been foiled in his attempts to end the world and begin anew the dragons were quick to put the festival on the top priority list after the repairs to Warfang were complete.

And thus it was so, that the yelling of shop merchants, the giggling of young dragonesses, and the occasional shouts from the few fights that broke out between dragons filled the air as Spyro and Cynder flew down over the city.

"Wow, I've never seen so many dragons in one place before," Spyro commented as he looked at the packed streets and the crowds below. He was looking for a place to land to search for the guardians. Both he and Cynder had taken a small vacation after they had stopped Malefor, observing the world differently now that the fate of their race didn't rest on their shoulders. They were careful to avoid members of their own race, fearful that they would break into spontaneous cheers and not let them live normal lives; neither of them wanted that.

When they finally decided it was time to return to the dragon temple there was no one there, it lay desolate. They had assumed it was so because it was still in disrepair since Malefor ripped it from the ground and suspended it high above the land. It had been returned to its place of origin when the world knitted itself back together thanks to Spyro, an action that cost Spyro much of his energy; it took him the first few days of his 'vacation' to be able to breath fire again.

That was why they went to Warfang; it was the only other place they knew of where dragons resided and if the guardians weren't at the temple they would be at the greatest dragon city that they had heard of. "Well at least the moles are good at fixing things," Cynder said as she looked down on the restored towers and mosaics that adorned the walls and street floors. There were few places that revealed that the city had been under siege by Malefor's forces, blackened craters in the least inhabited parts of the city still remained and ruined bricks were in piles in the dead-end streets.

The plant life in the city had also been restored to its beautiful splendour. Vast beds of roses filled the centre of thoroughfares with pathways down either side, many dragons using those paths and admiring the scents and sights. Courtyards with plenty of large trees and grass to lie in the trees' shades were also present, some dragons that had already chosen partners lay together and enjoyed each other's company in that shade. Spyro and Cynder, however, knew not that these dragon couples were single only the day before; they had never been told about the Courtship Festival and were unaware what exactly they were descending down into.

"Let's set down over there," Spyro said as he angled down towards the city's defensive wall above the city entryway. Other dragons were already setting down, the large cannon that had been used to defend the city from Malefor's army's siege engines had been dismantled and moved somewhere else, providing even more room for dragons of all sizes to land.

As soon as Cynder and Spyro did touch down they were immediately targeted by a mole carrying a large, horizontal, wooden tray attached to his chest by two straps over his shoulders. "Ah, a mighty fine couple you two make," he said to them, making both dragons look at each other with confused expressions. The mole then focused on Spyro. "Perhaps you'd like to buy her one of my lovely trinkets," he looked over his collection of jewellery with a practiced eye and picked out an elaborate horn ornament. "Ah, this one would look beautiful on her, the rich purple of the sapphire gems and the silver band matches her scales beautifully."

Spyro could see Cynder admiring the trinket; he would have bought it for her if it weren't for one problem. "How would I pay for it?" Spyro asked the mole, receiving a slight smile in return.

"Luckily for you I have been able to get my wares at quite a bargain, and naturally that reflects on my prices. Your partner could be wearing this for the price of only two gold pieces." Cynder looked at Spyro and noticed the uncomfortable expression on his face.

She leaned towards him and whispered, "What are you doing, Spyro? We both know that you have no gold. Besides, since when did you want to buy jewellery for me?"

Spyro whispered in return, "I saw the look on your face, you want it, and I know that you have no gold either."

"So then we're just going to stand here and barter him down to nothing? No, I'll save you the embarrassment of having to say you're broke." Cynder whispered back, and then spoke to the mole directly. "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of them are right for me, but if I change my mind later I'll be sure to come straight back to you with…my partner here."

The mole twisted his moustache between his right forefinger and thumb and smiled. "Of course, naturally you'll want to browse around the other merchants, but I assure you that you won't find a price as low as mine for the quality I offer." With that the mole quickly rounded on another pair of dragons that had appeared from a staircase and began to sell to them. Spyro and Cynder watched as the ice dragon bought the lightning dragoness a horn ornament like the one that Cynder was offered, except a gold band with red rubies.

"Do you think this is normal around here?" Cynder asked as the dragon slipped the piece of jewellery on to one of the dragoness' horns and the mole pocketed some gold.

"I don't know," Spyro replied, watching the dragon couple walk away with their purchase with their tails intertwined and the mole move onto another would-be-customer; a single earth dragon by himself. "Maybe it is, we've only been here once before and I don't think it would have been a good idea to try and sell whilst the city was falling." Spyro began to walk to one of the staircases that led to deeper parts of the city, passing the mole and earth dragon on the way.

"Ah, after a female of the wind variety are you, well I'd offer you this lovely silver band, I'm sure the purple would bring out the silver of her scales something fierce, but I'm afraid that piece is on reserve to two friends of mine. Perhaps this one…" The rest of the conversation was lost as Spyro and Cynder descended down the stairs and their ears were assaulted by the shouts of dragons and moles selling flowers, jewellery, even poems, most of which, Spyro and Cynder noticed, were love related.

"Have you noticed that there are a lot of dragons around our age buying all this stuff?" Spyro asked Cynder as he raised his brow at the three dragonesses in a building's doorway that were looking at him and smiling sweetly. He smiled back and each one of them broke into giggles and disappeared into the building.

"I have, I've also noticed that some of them show quite a bit of interest in us, and not the interest I would have expected," Cynder replied as she ignored the fire dragon that beckoned her to approach him, a red rose between his teeth. "I don't think anybody recognises me," she said with some relief, she then noticed the looks the females gave Spyro, "but it appears the girls recognise you."

"I don't think it's because they recognise me," Spyro defended himself; "they keep looking at the other males too. I think we should ask someone where to find the guardians, maybe they can explain what's going on." They stopped by a stall managed by an old looking earth dragoness. She beamed down at them as they approached and picked out a purple pansy, threaded the stem through a loop on a band of cotton and then held it out to Cynder.

"I notice that your partner doesn't have any gold, these flowers were grown by me and I insist that you wear one, free of charge, of course." Cynder looked at the flower, then at Spyro, and then shook her head.

"Oh, no, we aren't a couple," Cynder quickly said, making the elder dragon's face express confusion.

"But I've watched you from across the street, I even saw you land together, and now you both stand here together. You must be a couple." She said to them, the flower still held between her claws.

"We've actually just got here, we don't have a clue what's going on, and we were hoping you could tell us where to find the guardian Terrador." Spyro added, making the dragoness smile with amusement.

"Ah, Terrador, I pined after him for several Courtship Festivals many years ago." Spyro and Cynder gave each other confused looks again but then turned back to the earth dragoness when she continued to talk. "You best wear this anyway," she said as she gave the flower to Cynder, "It'll stop the less hopeful from doting after you both on your way to the citadel at the centre of the city. That is where you'll find Terrador; he'll explain everything to you, as is his duty." She then turned to two other dragons that actually carried gold.

Spyro and Cynder left the stall and found a reasonably empty space to stand away from the crowds. "She said Courtship Festival," Spyro said as he took another look at the crowds and recognised clues he hadn't spotted before. It all made sense. He turned to Cynder, and then stared at her as she tried to slip the cotton band over one of her horns. She had placed it on the floor and was trying to thread one of her horns through the cotton by rubbing her head in the dirt.

Spyro looked out at the other dragons in the crowds and saw that the gifts and treasures were designed to be placed onto someone by somebody else, "Um, Cynder, I think I'm supposed to put that on you." He looked back at her and saw that she had managed to get the flower on her self and was now straightening it.

"It's ok, Spyro, I've managed," she replied as she looked at him. "There's something I want to talk to you about," she then said, earning her Spyro's full concentration. "It's about what I said to you right after we defeated Malefor." She had a somewhat bashful look on her face, but Spyro was oblivious to it.

"Oh, what did you say, I don't remember?" Spyro asked, earning him an incredulous look.

_I told him I love him and he doesn't remember?_ She thought to herself as she suddenly questioned the wisdom of discussing what was on her mind. "You really don't remember?" She asked, "It was right after you told me to leave and I refused."

Spyro thought for a moment, Cynder watching him intently but then he shook his head, "No, sorry, Cynder, it was pretty loud down there and I wasn't really paying much attention to anything else other than concentrating my power when you must have said it. What did you say?"

Cynder looked away, now that she wasn't in danger of dying in the next few seconds she didn't feel brave enough to tell him she loved him again. "Never mind, let's just find Terrador," she said as she entered the crowds again and set off towards the citadel. Spyro watched her for a second and then ran to catch up, pushing his way past his fellow dragons in the process.

By the time he did catch up to her they had already managed to traverse the length of the street to an open courtyard. The scent of the flowerbeds and the grass were strong in the air and both Spyro and Cynder inhaled deeply as they stepped onto the lush green turf, the cool earth soothing their scaled feet. "You know, this city is kinda nice when it isn't on fire," Spyro commented as a group of dragons and dragonesses passed him and Cynder in the opposite direction. A dark blue-scaled water dragoness winked at him as he met her gaze and he looked away, feeling slightly hot.

Cynder looked over at the other dragoness and glared at her when Spyro wasn't looking; the other dragoness quickly moved on with her friends; Cynder could have swore that she had heard her name bounce around the group. "So," Cynder began as they walked over the grass together, "how many dragonesses have you gained the attention of since we got here?"

"I haven't been keeping count," he replied bashfully, "about ten I think." Cynder gave a light sigh that Spyro picked up on, "What about you?"

"Two, guess I'm not as easy on the eyes as you are," she said with a small laugh.

"It's probably because you're wearing that flower," Spyro said to cheer her up, "you don't look the type to be easy to claim so maybe that's why you get so few, as that dragon said, it'll stop the less hopeful from doting."

"I guess you're right," _Besides, I'm walking with the only dragon I want to dote after me anyway, _she thought as they left the courtyard and walked up the stone steps to the citadel. There were few young dragons in this area of the city, most of the passer-bys were old, some bordering on ancient. Unlike the younger generations these dragons recognised Spyro and Cynder for whom and what they were. They each acknowledged the two as they walked past, either by a simple greeting or a nod of the head. Few expressed distaste at Cynder's presence but those few was enough to make her retreat into her thick-skinned self.

"Just ignore them, Cynder," Spyro said as one ancient ice dragon brushed past her without even apologising for the unwanted contact.

"It's times like this when I think they should be grateful I didn't kill them," She said, her anger getting the better of her.

"That isn't really the attitude to take on, is it, young dragon?" A deep voice suddenly sounded from behind the pair. They both turned around to face the voice's origin and gazed up at the muscular form of Terrador smiling down at them.


	2. Chapter 2

"I must say it is good to see you, both of you." The mighty Earth guardian boomed. "We weren't sure if you had died saving us all from Malefor, I assume Ignitus kept you hidden to recover after the battle, did he?" Spyro's and Cynder's smiling faces suddenly became depressed and reserved, worrying Terrador. "He didn't survive did he?"

Spyro shook his head and Terrador sighed deeply. "He managed to get us through the ring of fire with his power but was consumed by the flames in the process." Spyro explained, his eyes beginning to water. Cynder knew first hand how hard the purple dragon had took the fire guardians death; he had almost killed the both of them trying to go back to futilely save Ignitus when his emotions consumed him. She placed her left forepaw on his right forepaw and he managed to keep his tears in check.

"Come now, Spyro," Terrador said as he entered through an open archway into a large, decorated chamber. Spyro and Cynder followed and looked around at the many different types of dragons sat upon padded cushions and conversing with younger dragons, these ones the same age as Spyro and Cynder, give or take a couple of years. "You have had time to grieve for Ignitus, as we all have done for him and the two of you. When you didn't return we expected the worst and now that you have come to us, at a time like this of all times, I'm sure Volteer and Cyril will want to see you."

Terrador turned the corner and a raised platform came into view, Volteer and Cyril sat upon cushions on top of it with a pile of green cushions next to Cyril and a pile of red ones next to Volteer. "Spyro, Cynder," Volteer exclaimed, "how marvellous it is to see you, we thought you had died, I mean the odds of you surviving that battle were stupendous, astronomical, down-right unfavourable."

"Hush now, Volteer," Terrador said as he took his place on the platform, sitting comfortably on his cushions. "Much needs to be explained to the two, I'm sure neither of them have any idea what is happening here."

"Yes," Cyril replied, "much needs to be discussed but I'm sure that we can spare some time for formalities. Welcome to the Hall of Masters, young dragons. This is where the individual masters of the elements reside when we gather in numbers in our great city. And of course, here is where the four guardians rest. Speaking of which, where is Ignitus?" The glum looks on Terrador's, Spyro's and Cynder's faces answered that question for him. "I see, so it appears our fears have been realised, a new guardian will have to be found."

"At another time, Cyril," Terrador scolded, "we will inform the rest of the masters later, but for now let us not dwell on official business, it is not the time." Cyril nodded, and then looked at Cynder.

"I see you've already begun to partake in the festival," the ice guardian commented, making Cynder bring one of her claws to the flower on her head.

"The Courtship Festival, right?" Cynder asked. The guardians nodded. "What exactly is it?"

"The Courtship Festival is a special time for dragons around your age," Volteer explained. "It is when you all choose partners to spend your lives with, mates." Spyro and Cynder shifted uncomfortably.

"We are aware that you two more than any other dragon in this city have had your educations neglected," Terrador reassured, "we didn't expect you to know of this. Of course, many dragons do find their partners outside of the festival, so do not think you have to take part by necessity, but we do encourage you both to at least venture out…alone."

"Why can't we just go out together?" Spyro asked, uncomfortable with having to be without Cynder; to him she was his only friend.

"You may find that the bond you two share is stronger than most, but if you do not explore other paths you may also find that you miss out on some valuable experiences or even the partners to your hearts." Cyril answered. Cynder had thought she had already found the partner to her heart; but she definitely wasn't going to announce it here in front of the guardians.

Terrador reached behind his cushions and pulled out two black satchels. "Here," he said as he gave one each to Spyro and Cynder. "Usually you would earn the gold yourselves but in both of your cases I believe you've more than earned whatever we give you. But for the moment we have only twenty gold pieces each to give. Spend it on gifts and other such items to gain the attention of ones that catch your eyes, but try not to spend it all at once."

Spyro and Cynder nodded and then slipped the loops of the satchels around their arms; no one would be able to steal from them without receiving deep claw wounds in return. "Return here to sleep," Terrador told the two, "As guardians we can allow you to sleep amongst the masters. A dark twist of fate has left Ignitus' place free for your use, that is, if it does not bring back too many memories." Spyro nodded.

"I think I can bring myself to sleep there, it would be comforting." Spyro said, Cynder also agreed.

"Good, good," Volteer chipped in, "now go, enjoy yourselves, you've earned it. We wish you luck on your quests." The two young dragons nodded, thanked the guardians and turned to leave.

"And, Cynder," Terrador called after them, making them stop and turn around, "try not to let your anger get the best of you, you'll find it difficult to find a male willing to be your partner when you can easily overpower them in a fight." She gave a weak smile in response and again she and Spyro turned to leave.

When they exited the Hall of Masters they each stopped and looked at each other. "I've never been alone with other dragons before," Spyro said, "I've always had someone there, like you or Sparx."

"Being alone with our would-be-mates won't make it anymore easier either." Cynder agreed, not really wanting to set out on a pointless search for something she knew was stood next to her. But she at least wanted him to choose her, not because she wanted him, but because he wanted her. "Well I guess we should go to that courtyard we were in before and then go our separate ways, sound like a plan?" He nodded and they both set off.

Again, few dragons gave Cynder anything more than a few quick glances. It was then that she realised she was still wearing the flower. When they reached the courtyard and they were stood in the middle of the grass she stopped Spyro before he left. "Could you take this off me and look after it for me, please?" She asked.

"Of course," He replied. She lowered her head and presented her horns to him. He then held the cotton band between his claws and gently slipped it off. "I'll keep it in here 'til you want it back, ok?" He said as he opened up his satchel and stored it inside. She nodded.

"Thanks, Spyro. I'll see you back at the Hall then." She then left him to stand by himself, making sure to let her tail rub across his legs as she did so. He watched her leave, taking note of the way she walked, her tail swinging from side to side, differently than it used to. He was unawares that it was for his benefit, he put it down to her trying to get attention.

"Hello," A voice suddenly said by his side. Spyro jumped slightly and turned to face a dark-red scaled dragoness. She had curled black horns upon her head, deep, ruby eyes, black wings and a spaded tail, two sharp edges along the horizontal, perfect for inflicting damage, maybe even more so than Cynder's Spyro thought.

"H-hello," Spyro finally managed to say after taking in her features, still put off by her sudden appearance. "You're a fire dragon, right?" He asked, making her smile, her white teeth flashing briefly.

"Oh, no, I'm not a fire dragon," she said, her eyes studying Spyro's body structure. "I'm a fear dragon, there aren't many, only about ten in the entire city. Bet I'm the first dragon you've seen before with power over fear, right, Spyro?" He was going to ask how she knew his name but then thought better of it; it wasn't unlikely that there would be many in the city who'd heard of him, plus he was the only purple dragon in existence.

"Well actually, Cynder has powers over fear," he said, suddenly making the dragoness think twice about talking to him.

"You mean the black dragon Cynder?" She asked, suddenly noticing the scent of another female wafting around Spyro.

"Yeah, she just left about two minutes ago, in fact you can still see her, there," he replied, pointing at Cynder on the other side of the yard, an upset looking male walking away from her. "Didn't you see her talking to me before you got here?"

"Well…uh…no, I didn't, um, I should go. Nice talking to you, Spyro," she then said, quickly making an exit over to two other dragonesses under a tree. They talked to each other, glanced over at Spyro and then began talking again.

"I guess I shouldn't mention Cynder if I'm going to make any new friends around here," Spyro said to himself. He then set off to the nearest street, hoping to find a merchant with some nice gifts for him to buy. The problem was he didn't exactly know what would make a nice gift. Obviously jewellery and flowers were a safe choice but how would he know if the jewellery he bought would be liked by the dragoness he decided to give it too. It seemed to him that the start of the relationships around him were far too materialistic.

He decided that, after finally entering the sea of dragons, he wouldn't buy any gifts yet; he'd wait until he was sure what to buy. He remembered the earth dragon when he first arrived and the mole selling him jewellery for a wind dragoness; who knew that the dragoness would like the jewellery he bought? It seemed stupid to waste his gold.

His decision didn't stop him from browsing the merchandise, however. He took note of the rare jewels that each merchant claimed to be the only seller of, and also made sure to remember where each of the stalls that sold the freshest flowers were; he took extra care to remember that earth and water dragons sold the best flowers, and fire dragons sold the worst.

Ice dragons took pride in crystals, various sculptures that depicted love and beauty in all forms adorned their stalls. Spyro suspected that they only liked crystal because they couldn't sell ice sculptures, they simply wouldn't last. Finally, electric dragons sold their wares fast. As a result their prices were cheap, but their quality varied. A bargain could be found quite easily at their stalls but more often than not they became the last hope for the desperate dragon that was running low on funds.

As he studied his environment he also became aware that he was actually obtaining merchandise for free. The various poets and storytellers that he passed were usually with a customer, exchanging gold for romantic verses and epic tales of heroic dragons risking everything to save a dragoness in distress. Again Spyro thought that the verses and tales were hollow, none of them came form the tellers' hearts. With the snippets of the bits he did hear he got everything he needed to know to make up his own romantic words, should he find the need.

There was one substance sold by plenty of moles; food. Assortments of chocolate, cakes, pastries, and all sorts of other sweet and delectable treats that were otherwise unattainable to the dragons, what with their large claws and scales ruining anything they tried to bake or decorate. All the dragons obtained their most elaborate merchandise from the moles, jewellery, sculptures, even the rare paintings. But the moles refused to sell their treats to dragons for resale, knowing that the dragons had powerful cravings for them and therefore ideal to make a nice profit from.

It was one of these moles that tried to sell Spyro a chocolate dragon, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. "How could you resist this?" She asked, presenting it in its box, "It's of the highest of qualities, smooth and melts in your mouth. The lucky dragoness you give this to won't be able to resist you. Three gold pieces, that's all it is."

Spyro sighed, growing tired of the relentless merchant. "I've never tried chocolate before so I don't know how anyone would react if I gave this to them. Besides, I know a place where I can get a piece of jewellery for only two gold pieces; three pieces for that seems far too much."

The moles face hardened slightly but then a smile crept back onto it. "Ah, you know how to haggle, I like that. Very well, if you value jewellery more than chocolate it's only natural that you wouldn't want to pay three gold pieces for this. So, I offer it to you for one gold piece, it was silly of me to try to charge more than its worth for a dragon who wouldn't crave its taste."

It was obvious that the merchant wasn't going to give up any time soon, and eager to press on Spyro gave in. "Fine, I'll take it," he said, making the merchant smile as she watched Spyro extract a gold piece and hand it over.

"A pleasure doing business with you," she said as she pocketed the gold piece and handed Spyro the box. She then moved off into the crowd to find another unsuspecting victim. He looked down at the dragon in the box he was now burdened with. He was suddenly struck by how much it resembled Cynder when he first met her; huge. Except she didn't look evil, she had a smile on her face and she wasn't nearly as thin as Cynder was.

"I could tell you didn't want to buy that," a quiet voice reached his ears, snapping him out of his musing. He turned to his right towards the nearby fountain and eyed a reserved looking ice dragoness sat behind it looking at him. She had light blue scales, white scales showing up in some places such as over her eyes and her shoulders. She had two horns on either side of her head, almost like Cyril's except they curved back towards her head slightly rather than growing straight. "Why did you buy it?"

"Because I could tell that she didn't want to take no for an answer," he replied as he walked towards her. Her tail had bright blue spikes protruding from it, ideal for puncturing but by the look of how untarnished they were he could tell she'd never had to use them.

"Well kudos to you," she said to him when he reached her, "you at least managed to haggle down to a fair price."

"Which quite frankly amazed me; I've never bought anything in my entire life, let alone haggled." That brought a slight laugh to the dragoness, the sound echoing inside Spyro's head.

"I'm Spyro," he said when she quietened down and no more speech was forthcoming. She seemed startled that he was continuing the conversation, either that or that fact that she knew who Spyro was.

"C-Crystal," she replied, actually looking at him properly since he had approached her. "So…must be good for you, being the purple dragon and all, you must receive a lot of attention." It was then Spyro's turn to laugh.

"Actually, this is the first time I've been around so many dragons; I'm starting to wish I was just a normal dragon, that way I wouldn't be approached by so many different dragonesses at once." Crystal smiled at that, obviously Spyro had said something right, what it was though he didn't know.

"Well at least some attention is better than none, you should consider yourself lucky, or try and make it look like you aren't looking for someone, that'll keep the masses at bay."

"Are you trying to make it look like you aren't looking for someone?" Spyro asked, looking around the fountain and noticing that no one was nearby. From the street no one would even notice Crystal sat by herself. Her azure eyes suddenly dimmed slightly and Spyro got the feeling that this time he had said something wrong. "I'm sorry if that was a stupid question." he said, making her smile again.

"The question was appropriate considering what I'd said to you, it's alright, you don't need to apologise. But no, I'm not making it look like I'm not looking for someone. I'm not particularly good with crowds and I was hoping someone would notice me by myself and approach. Looks like it isn't going well so far, doesn't it?" Spyro looked down at the chocolate dragon by his feet. He definitely wasn't happy that he was going to be carrying it around, nor did he think he'd eat it; the brown colouring put him off slightly. But he did think Crystal might like it.

"Here," he said as he pushed the box closer to Crystal, "a present for you." She looked down at it with a slightly shocked expression.

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly-" She began but Spyro cut her off.

"You said yourself that you could tell I didn't want to buy it, so you know I'm not saving it for someone special. Besides, you look like you could do with some cheering up." She looked at Spyro, then at the chocolate and finally back to Spyro again.

"Thank you," she said as she pulled the box to her side, "That was kind of you." He smiled at her and she smiled back. Silence was then prevalent between the two until Spyro thought it best he left; he wanted to do something before it was too late.

"Well it was nice talking to you," he said, making her quickly look up at him from the floor she was staring at and almost take a step forwards. "But I do have to get some things done. Maybe I'll see you around the city sometime?" He asked as he began to walk away.

"If not you'll know where to find me," she quickly replied, flaring her snow white wings to indicate she meant the fountain. With that Spyro re-entered the crowd and began to make his way back to the place he and Cynder had landed.

It took him almost thirty minutes to traverse the distance due to the crowds, he was certain that the dragonesses he bumped in to were doing it on purpose because they giggled as they walked away. By the time he had reached the merchant that had tried to sell to him when he first arrived he had quite a few scratches on his arms where other dragons' scales had scraped him. "Quite ghastly the crowds aren't they?" The mole said to Spyro. "That's why I sell up here, not as many dragons but each one I do come across is almost certain to buy, they're more persuadable when they aren't being shoved about you see."

"I can imagine," Spyro replied. "I'd like to buy something, if you still have it." The mole smiled and extracted the silver horn ornament with the purple sapphires.

"Managed to get some gold have we?" He asked, not expecting an answer. "Well I assure you this is of a fine quality; tough, durable, won't scratch unless exposed to extreme conditions." He demonstrated by scraping it on the stone floor and then tapping it with a small hammer. "The gems were hand cut by me and the silver was smelted by a good friend of mine; I make sure that what I sell is sure to satisfy my customers." Spyro nodded and took out two gold pieces.

"I'll take it," he said as he handed them over.

"Thank you," the mole said as he took Spyro's gold. "Now, let me show you the correct way to put it on that dragoness you were with."

"I never said it was for her," Spyro quickly said, causing the mole to give a curious look.

"Oh, I was under the impression that you two were partners."

"No, we just arrived together, but she did like that so I'm buying it for her." The mole's confused look still remained.

"And you don't intend anything to come from giving her this? If she liked it then you would be foolish to not pursue her as your partner with it, does she not dote after you like any other female? I'm aware that you're the purple dragon, you must receive quite a few greetings." Spyro stopped to think about that. He had yet to meet a dragoness that he cared as much about as Cynder, even Crystal, who he took an immediate liking to, paled in comparison to Cynder.

"Well maybe…I don't know, I guess I haven't really thought about her that way. The guardians told me to meet other dragons before I make any decision." The mole shook his head.

"You don't listen to others; you listen to your heart. If you're unsure of what you're doing then take this jewellery and don't give it to her until you're sure of your intentions, you could give it as a friendly gesture or as a romantic gesture, just make sure you and her know what type of gesture it is." Spyro listened intently, the words imprinting themselves on his mind; he didn't know what his intentions were with Cynder.

"Now," the mole exclaimed, bringing Spyro from his thoughts, "these links in the middle here can shift, so when you slide it on her horn it moulds itself to fit her shape, that way it won't slip off whilst flying. Just make sure it's good and tight."


	3. Chapter 3

"Not interested," Cynder firmly said to yet another hopeful young dragon that approached her with a gift. He sighed and reluctantly left, the single tulip between his teeth hanging limply, as deflated as its bearer. Cynder then continued on through the streets, her mind not dwelling on the third male that she had sent away. She didn't have the time to tactfully turn down the annoying distractions; she had only a limited time to win Spyro over before some other less worthy female did.

"I'm the one that fought with him," She muttered to herself, "why should someone else be with him?" She was beginning to regret not telling him she loved him again, she had simply thrown him out to the world to claim when he was easily obtainable to her before. "I have to get him something that'll make him mine for certain." She just couldn't think of what that was.

The stalls she had visited had plenty of merchandise, but most of it was geared towards the males buying gifts for females. She doubted that Spyro would like a large diamond tail bracelet or a huge bouquet of flowers. She needed help, but she didn't know who to ask. She looked around the crowds and stalls for anyone that could help her but the only possible source of help she could see would have to come from the small group of dragonesses giggling to themselves in a well lit alleyway. "Why does it have to be them?" she sighed as she began to make her way to the group.

They stopped talking amongst themselves when Cynder reached their group and the four girls looked at her. "Excuse me," Cynder said in the politest voice she could muster; she wasn't particularly fond of giggling. "But I was wondering if you could help me with something."

A fiery red dragon then stepped forwards, but it had looked like the wind dragon behind her had pushed her. "Uh, sure, what is it?" She asked, her high-pitched voice offending Cynder's ears. The other girls just watched, the occasional whisper being exchanged which they thought went unnoticed by Cynder; but of course they were noticed. Their attitude rubbed Cynder the wrong way and it took every ounce of self restraint she had to prevent herself from giving a scathing remark.

"Well what I wanted to know was if you knew any places where I could buy a gift for someone, there doesn't seem to be much of a market for males." Silence greeted her statement, and then she was subjected to a series of snickering. Cynder's face gained a scowl as she was ridiculed.

"You don't buy gifts for them," the earth dragoness said, with a smug look on her face, "they buy gifts for you. All you have to do is look pretty enough and they'll come to you."

"Yeah, go to the end of this street and then take the flight of stairs to your right," the red dragoness then told Cynder. "Once at the top go through the double arches and then a tunnel, you'll know what to do when you get there." It was obvious that they weren't going to be any more help.

"Thanks," she replied as she turned away and re-entered the street, "for nothing." She couldn't believe that she was expected to just look pretty and accept gifts. But now that she thought about it, that's exactly what was going on when she paid attention to the other dragons. The males would creep over to one of the females whose scales shined and smelled unnaturally like flowers, hand over a trinket, flower, or some other gift and then the two would walk off together. Cynder wondered just how many gifts one female would receive before she chose one male over the rest.

She could do just that, wait until Spyro brought her a gift and then not let go…but to her that just didn't seem right. She felt that one gift deserves another in return, but she didn't expect him to give her one if she gave him one first. "I'll find him something, I have to," She finally said, then began to think over what he'd like.

Lost amongst her thoughts she didn't notice that she had ambled her way along the route that had been directed to her and soon found herself in an area devoid of males entirely; there was nothing but a sea of colourful scaled and sparkling dragonesses. She gasped at the sheer number of them, the high voices and girlish attitudes thick in the air. And that wasn't all that she noticed. The stalls in this area were not meant to sell gifts to give to others, but gifts to use on the purchaser.

Cynder saw displays of colourful but scented glass vials on the majority of the merchants' stands; the dragonesses would hand over gold and the merchant would spray them with the bottle in return, leaving the dragonesses with a new scent wafting behind them. She also noticed just how brighter the others' scales shone. Her own dark scales reflected the light well enough but not like the rest of the females, they made hers look dull in comparison.

She was musing on that fact as she explored the area when a voice called out to her, "You, you there, with the appalling set of scales." Cynder turned to look at its origin and saw a stout-looking female mole. She had all sorts of equipment set up at her stall, and a large crimson curtain that could be puller right across the alcove she occupied. Cynder raised a claw and pointed at her self and the mole nodded vigorously, "Yes, you, come over here at once." Cynder hesitated, looked around and then ventured over to the demanding mole.

"Can I help you?" She asked when she reached her. The mole shook her head,

"Oh no, my dear, it is I that can help you." She said, puzzling Cynder. "You must have been travelling for quite sometime to end up with scales like yours," she continued. Cynder looked down at her scales; she couldn't see anything wrong with them. The mole on the other hand tapped them disapprovingly. "Just as I thought, you've neglected them, dear. Have you not had time for personal grooming?"

Cynder stood taken aback, "What do you mean?" She asked, "My scales are just fine thank you very much, they're not dirty, if that's what you're trying to get at."

"Well it looks to me like you only bathe in water and even then you simply just wash the dirt off, and not too thoroughly either." Cynder remained quiet at that, truth be told, the occasional swim and the bath she took when covered in mud was the only water her scales ever received, minus the rare tongue bath of course. "Well my services can fix that right up for you for the price of ten gold pieces."

"And what exactly are your services and what makes you think that I'm going to pay you ten gold pieces for them?" Cynder asked, becoming slightly self-conscious about her scales now that someone had given her a reason behind why everybody else shined.

"I offer a full polishing treatment to give your scales the attention they truly deserve. The process takes approximately thirty minutes but when it's done you'll notice the difference immediately. And you'll pay ten gold pieces because every dragon in the city will have their eyes on you, as far as I know, you're the only black dragon here…which of course makes you Cynder, correct?" Cynder hesitated but then nodded. "I thought so, well I don't fear you; I know what you did for us all along with Spyro so I'll reduce my price to five gold pieces. What say you?"

"I don't know," Cynder replied, still unsure if she wanted to spend one quarter of her funds to make herself look good. "The dragon I'm after has never shown any dislike to the way my scales look; in fact they look pretty much the same condition as his."

"All the more reason to make yours look spectacular," the mole replied. "Females are supposed to look attractive to the males, and I'm sure your purple-scaled 'friend' will notice the way your scales look immediately when he sees them." Cynder was about to ask how she knew that it was Spyro she was talking about when the mole continued. "Please, when you travel and accomplish the things you and he did together it's only natural to develop feelings for one another. If you don't know if he likes you the way you do him let me tell you this, the feelings are always there, you just have to get him to express them."

"Well…alright," Cynder finally said as she began to take out her five pieces of gold. She was still intent on buying Spyro a gift, however; she wasn't going to spend all her gold on herself no matter what she'd end up looking like. "But what exactly does your polishing involve?"

The mole took Cynder's gold off her and placed it in a large bag behind her stall; the mole obviously achieved quite a bit of business. She then directed Cynder onto a pedestal further into the alcove and once she took her position on it the mole pulled the curtain to, shielding Cynder from outside viewers. "I first go over the scales with this," she explained, indicating to a large brush. She picked it up and pressed a button, making the brush spin; Cynder could see that it was wet. "I then work my way down these brushes," the mole continued, placing down the rotating brush and sweeping her hand across a selection of brushes that started from large to small. "Finally I polish your horns and claws," she continued to explain, holding out a fairly clean cloth. "And just for you I'll include a subtle scent, free of charge."

"A scent?" Cynder asked.

"Yes, dear, a perfume. Is there any particular fragrance that Spyro has shown a liking to when you were journeying together?" The mole asked. Cynder thought for a moment, she couldn't think of a time when Spyro had said anything smelled nice let alone preferred it to something else. The mole waited patiently for Cynder to think until the dragoness expressed a sign of recognition, "Have you thought of one?"

"I think so," she replied. "It was after we defeated Malefor. We took some time for ourselves and we found a beautiful spot near a river. There was a tree there with huge pink flowers on its branches. They flowers had five petals and were in the shape of a star. I remember Spyro liked to sit under it because he said the smell soothed him…I don't think that's much help though,"

"On the contrary," the mole replied as she extracted a dusty looking vial containing a pink-hued liquid. "What you described was the Junyaba tree, and it isn't a well known tree either which means when I spray you with this you'll be the only dragoness that carries the scent; I happen to know only two moles other than me carry this perfume and we don't tell people about it due to its rarity. I'll spray you with just enough to make it so that he'll only be able to smell it if he gets close enough to you, we don't want you getting swarmed now do we." Cynder laughed lightly at that and the mole smiled as she picked up her rotating brush. "Let's begin, shall we, by the time I'm through with you he won't be able to resist you." Cynder hoped so as the mole pressed the button on the brush and began to work over Cynder's scales.

--

The rest of the day for Spyro went by without much more on his mind than Cynder. What the mole had said to him constantly played on his mind; what did he actually want to give Cynder a gift for? He sat with his back to a tree in a secluded area not far from the citadel that the Hall of Masters was located near. None disturbed him, but then again he had only been seated there for little less than half an hour and so far only three dragons had passed him; glancing at him but nothing more.

He twiddled Cynder's gift between his claws as he looked at it. The light caught it at various angles and the purple sapphires cast brilliant lights on the ground as the light was reflected. "She'd like this," he mumbled to himself, "but how should I give it to her? What do I say?"

He had come to the conclusion, as he talked to other dragons and tolerated the endless waves of hopeful dragonesses that tried to strike up conversations with him, that he cared about Cynder more than anybody else; but he didn't know if that was for friendship, or something more. "Would she even want to spend the rest of her life with me?" He then asked himself, knowing that if he did give her the gift with romantic intentions that he'd be committing her to him if she accepted it. "She may want to be with someone else for that role," he continued with his line of thought.

"But she isn't stupid, she'd tell me if she didn't want to be my partner," as soon as he thought of that another thought came to his head. "What if she does turn me down? That would just be embarrassing," he then looked at the horn ornament again. "And this did only cost two gold pieces, that can't be enough to show love can it?" He sighed in frustration; he was confused and really did not know what to do.

He then remembered what Terrador had said to him and Cynder just before he left, 'you may miss out on valuable experiences or even the partners to your hearts.' "What if Cynder is the partner to my heart? I can't risk missing out just because I'm afraid of a little embarrassment." He then got to his feet, placing his gift back in the satchel around his leg. "But first I need to get her a better gift." He decided as he made his way back to the streets and lost himself in the crowds.

He had seventeen pieces of gold left, and with his mind made up he could spend every last piece on a gift for Cynder if he had to. Rationing seemed to be pointless to him now; if his campaign to gain Cynder's affections failed he was sure that the guardians would give him some more gold if he asked and if he wasn't rebuffed by her then he wouldn't need the gold.

The problem was he still didn't know what to get her. The stalls and merchants all sold spectacular looking gifts and each one looked to be perfect, but he didn't feel anything special about any of the ones he looked at, nothing that would make Cynder's eyes light up. "I have to find something," He declared.

--

"So, what do you think?" The female mole asked Cynder as she rolled out a full-view mirror across the curtain from a crevice in the wall. "Personally I think I've out done myself, that tail blade of yours was particularly challenging." Cynder was speechless as she looked at her reflection. Every single scale on her body was practically glowing with the light they reflected; the slight purple hue that had grown into her scales was especially visible.

Her horns and claws were a brilliant white and even her iron ornaments that adorned her neck, forelegs and tail shone, polished relentlessly until they almost looked like pure silver. Her tail blade was what truly astounded her, however. She curled it round to her front to observe it at a different angle. The mole had laboured with an assortment of brushes and different liquids, scrubbing and buffing the blade until every single stain that had accumulated on it in her lifetime was lifted off. As a result it became very reflective, the cool greyness of it bouncing light off in all directions; she could almost see her own reflection it in.

"It's wonderful," the dragoness said to the mole, still slightly stunned at her appearance. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it but I'm not done yet, dear" She then picked up the vial of Junyaba perfume and approached Cynder. "Pay close attention to what I'm going to tell you, Cynder, you may wish to do it yourself someday. Now, there are certain places on your body where a scent will be most effective. You don't want to simply smother yourself in it; a smell can repulse someone with enough quantity. Instead, apply small amounts to four areas."

Cynder then stood still as the mole began to spray her. The scented mist was sprayed onto both sides of her face near her neck, one on her chest between her forearms, once between her wing joints on her back and finally twice on the underside of the middle of her tail. "Do you think that would be enough?" Cynder asked as she watched the mole put away the vial.

"The secret to perfume is to apply a subtle amount, just enough for the one you like to smell it and then lean in for a little more. You don't want to be swimming in it so that everyone can smell it; you don't seem the type to be letting people know you're trying to attract someone." Cynder agreed, besides, she didn't want to have to choke on the perfume just so she could smell nice.

"I guess you're right," Cynder replied as she stepped off the pedestal, "Thank you so much, but I was wondering if you could do one more thing for me." The mole nodded and Cynder continued, "Please, do you know anywhere that would be selling a gift for Spyro; I don't want to just look pretty for him, I want to show him that I love him." The mole smiled slyly.

"My, you are a rare breed aren't you, nothing like your former self that took what you wanted. You actually want to give a gift rather than receive one? Well I know just the place." Cynder sat on her haunches upright, listening intently. "You know where the citadel is, right?" Cynder nodded. "Well as you approach it take a right into an alleyway that has two dragon head statues on either side of it. Go to the end of that alley and take a left, not the right. Then look for a stall managed by a wind dragon; he specialises in gifts for couples." Cynder nodded and thanked the mole again, then made to leave. "But I do warn you, his wares are not cheap."

Cynder wasn't worried, she had fifteen gold pieces with her; just how expensive could the dragon's merchandise be?


	4. Chapter 4

"Can't you just drop the price by one piece?" Cynder pleaded with the wind dragon. She had found the perfect gift for Spyro; a silver set of jewellery almost exactly like her own, except they were clearly built for a male. The problem was the entire set cost sixteen pieces of gold, one more than she had.

"I'm sorry," the dragon said to her as he studied her form, "but I couldn't possibly lower the price. The set you're after is the partner to this set here," he indicated to another set of jewellery, a mirror to Cynder's own except made out of pure silver and not iron. "I have already broke my own rule and offered to sell them to you separately, if you can't afford it then I have no choice but to retract my offer."

Cynder began to panic; she'd found the perfect gift and she couldn't afford it because she had been selfish enough to pay for a beauty treatment. "Wait!" She suddenly shouted, making a few passer-bys turn to look. "If I can get the gold to pay for them will you sell them to me?"

The dragon hesitated, but then smiled. "As I can see the desperation in your plea I will indeed sell them to you if you can find the funds. But," he then said, making Cynder's beaming face falter, "if someone comes with the intention of purchasing both sets I will have no choice but to sell them, do you understand?"

Cynder nodded and then began to run to the Hall of Masters. Dragons and dragonesses of all sizes quickly moved out of her way as her lithe form weaved throughout the cities narrow passageways. She would have flown if there was much more room above her but with the sheer number of dragons overhead she'd be more likely to collide with one of them than with one on the ground. Despite that she almost did collide with an ice dragoness. The dragoness flinched as Cynder almost ran into her but the black saviour leapt over the defenceless creature and entered the Hall of Masters.

The first thing she noticed was Cyril speaking with another ice master, a dragoness with horns much like his own but she did not have the icicle-like scales that hung from the guardian's chin. She did not want to interrupt whatever was going on between Cyril and the dragoness so she quickly moved on to the back of the hall and found Terrador and Volteer conversing.

"Ah, Cynder, you're back." Terrador said as she noticed her approach. "And I see you've had a bit of pampering, you look beautiful, not that you didn't before, of course." Cynder bowed her head in thanks but then quickly cut to the chase.

"I need more gold," she gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.

Terrador and Volteer gave her a puzzled look. "Whatever for?" Volteer asked. "How much have you spent so far?"

"Only five pieces," Cynder replied, her scales providing the answer as to what the gold had been spent on without the question being asked. "But the gift I want to buy costs sixteen pieces. The merchant won't sell it to me for fifteen; I've already made a deal with him to get it for sixteen."

"Cynder," Terrador calmly said, "sixteen pieces of gold for one gift isn't spending your gold wisely, is it?"

"But it's the perfect gift," Cynder argued, "he'll love it." Terrador gave her a questioning look.

"That may be but I'm afraid at the moment that we don't have any more gold to give you." Cynder's face dropped and her eyes shimmered; she fought back the tears, however, she had more dignity than that. "If you still want to buy the gift tomorrow you may, we'll have more gold by then but for now sleep on it, you may decide that it isn't the right gift for whoever you are purchasing it for." With that Terrador rose to his feet and walked past her, venturing off to the other side of the hall to speak with another dragon.

Cynder stood there deflated; she couldn't buy Spyro the gift that she knew he'd love. Lost in her growing depression she almost didn't hear Volteer calling her over quietly. "Quickly, Cynder, come here," he whispered as she looked at him. She approached him with her head down and sat in front of him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"You know," he began, "I know just how you feel." She looked up at him when he said that, curiosity making her interested. "There was a marvellous young female that I had taken a liking to when I was around your age. She had these wondrous golden scales that shone no matter what the conditions were like weather-wise. I too wanted to buy her a gift, but like you I didn't have the gold to do so. I didn't want to approach her with nothing so I shied away from her until I could afford the gift I wanted to get her. Unfortunately in that time she met someone else."

Cynder was surprised by Volteer's sudden divulgence of secrets. He was know to talk incessantly but only ever about gibberish. "I don't want to see the same thing happen to you, Cynder, so here," Volteer said as he extracted a gold piece from underneath one of his pillows and handed it to Cynder. She looked at it dumbly then realised that she now had the gold to buy her gift and therefore make Spyro hers at last.

"Thank you, Volteer," She exclaimed as she ran to him and gave him a brief nuzzle against his neck.

"You are most welcome, now go, quickly, before Terrador comes back and shouts at me for giving you the gold." He replied with a chuckle. Cynder nodded and then ran as fast as she could out of the hall. Terrador saw her leave with such enthusiasm and glowered at Volteer; the electricity guardian simply shrugged.

--

Spyro couldn't believe his luck after he had purchased Cynder's gift. The boxes containing the separate pieces of jewellery were strapped to his back, a nearby mole helping him secure them when he couldn't carry them all. "I'm sure she'd love these," he said to himself as he began his way back to the Hall of Masters. "They look so much better than the ones she wears now, not that I'm bothered, but she would be." He reassured himself.

He thought back to when he purchased the jewellery set. The wind dragon he had bought them from had said he could only sell them to Spyro thanks to another dragoness who had persuaded him to sell a set of jewellery for two in halves. Spyro noticed that the other set hadn't been sold yet, but the merchant had said that she'd be coming back when she had enough gold, so Spyro snatched up the other half of the set before anybody else could. And he still had one gold piece left; it clattered against Cynder's other gift in his satchel. He couldn't think of much use for it, however; there wasn't anything else he wished to buy nor did he think he needed to.

The sound of someone running and possibly knocking dragons and stalls over reached Spyro's ears. It sounded like it was coming from the next street over. Wherever it was coming from though, Spyro was glad that he didn't need to worry about buying anything anymore, well he hoped so anyway. He wasn't comfortable in the crowds; dragons and moles staring at him, some asking him things. Even the dragonesses that came to him began to annoy him; as sincere as they sounded he knew that the chances were good that they were only talking to him because he was the purple dragon, not because they had any real interest in him.

That was one of the reasons he liked Cynder so much. She didn't care that he had purple scales or that he saved the world. They'd been through so much together that those things about him didn't matter to her. She liked him for who he was. And he felt the same about her. Her past as Malefor's right hand wasn't important; he knew that wasn't her fault. When she left the temple that night a few years beforehand he went after her. His feelings he felt for her had grown and it was only now that he realised he loved her.

As he approached the Hall of Masters he only hoped that she loved him back.

--

Crystal struggled with the boxes on her back. She was thankful that the dragons in the street around her noticed her having trouble with them and gave her plenty of room to make it through the crowd. She had no idea what possessed her to buy the gift; she had no idea what the purple dragon liked. As far as she knew he might hate any form of jewellery. But he had been the only one to give her a gift, the only one to actually talk to her and tell her his name. She had to at least try to make him her partner.

A loud roar of anguish came from behind her; from the direction of the merchant she had bought the gift from. _That dragoness must have returned_, she thought as she began to speed up, hoping that the dragoness wouldn't start looking for her; she hated fighting.

She wasn't being spiteful when she bought the gift. The merchant had said that he sold sets of jewellery for couples exclusively but he had been persuaded to sell one set of his wares in two halves, the female set and the male set, and the female set had been bought only seconds before Crystal arrived at the stall. She looked to see who had bought it but he had been hidden by the crowd.

She couldn't think of another place where they sold gifts for males so she couldn't just leave; especially because the merchant said that he was saving the male set for another dragoness. She pleaded with him to sell it to her but he was adamant that he couldn't. That was when she offered him twenty gold pieces. She knew that it was worth only sixteen but she needed it. The merchant had reluctantly sold it to her and began thinking up excuses to tell the other dragoness when she returned to buy the gift.

And now Crystal was on her way back to her mother and grandfather. Her grandfather had given her the gold she needed after she went to her mother to place the chocolate dragon Spyro had given her where it would be safe. She hadn't told either of her two family members who had given her the gift; she didn't want them making a big deal out of it. But when they saw what she had bought with the gold they had given her she was certain that they'd demand to know who it was that deserved a gift she had spent twenty gold pieces on.

She stopped when she reached the street that the Hall of Masters was on and looked around cautiously. After being given the gold she needed she was almost knocked over by a black dragoness who was running at a frantic speed. She didn't know what to do when she was so close; all she did was flinch. But when she opened her eyes again the dragoness was gone, having jumped over her to avoid the collision. Satisfied that it was safe to carry on, Crystal continued on her way.

--

Cynder glared at the electric dragon that approached her with a golden bracelet; the weak smile he was wearing quickly vanished and he retreated back to the corner he had come from, thoroughly disheartened. Cynder didn't care. She was too furious to care about anything. The merchant that had promised her the perfect gift to give to Spyro had sold it to someone else seconds before she returned with the right amount of gold.

She wasn't angry with the other dragoness that bought the gift, however; it wasn't her fault. The merchant had told Cynder that he didn't tell the other female that someone else wanted to buy the gift. In fact, she felt sorry for the other dragoness, the merchant had charged her twenty pieces instead of sixteen.

Cynder's anger soon fizzled out as she moved through the now darkening streets. She looked up at one of the city's outer walls, the setting sun just visible before it disappeared behind the city's defences. The day had been a waste, sure she looked nice but that was nothing compared to what she would have felt if she were carrying a gift for Spyro.

She sighed as she stepped into the glare of the citadel and crossed the street to the Hall of Masters. She couldn't help but think about Volteer's experience with his gift buying; she prayed that another dragoness hadn't beaten her to Spyro.

As she walked through the hall Cynder saw the ice dragoness she'd almost ran into, talking with an older ice dragoness and Cyril; a pile of four boxes in Cyril's possession as he studied them. She contemplated going over to her and apologising but thought better of it; she probably wouldn't care.

She saw Spyro sitting on one of Ignitus' cushions talking to Terrador. She didn't want him to know that she was upset so she quickly removed the slight frown on her face and stopped dragging her tail along the floor. Volteer glanced at her as she approached, noticed the lack of any apparent present and knew that somehow Cynder hadn't been able to buy what she wanted; he remained quiet.

"Hey, Spyro," she said when she was within earshot, "did you have a nice day?" Spyro stopped talking to Terrador and looked at Cynder; he didn't look away from her after that. "Something wrong?" She asked with a slight smile, finding it amusing that he just sat there, his mouth slightly agape.

Terrador watched the two as his mind put two and two together to figure out whom Cynder wanted to buy her gift for and who the gift that Spyro had hid beneath the earth guardian's cushions was for. "Spyro, I think you should say something," he whispered to the purple dragon.

"What…oh…err," Spyro started as he snapped out of his staring trance, making Cynder suppress a laugh. "You look nice, Cynder," he finally blurted out.

Terrador shook his head, _nice,_ he thought, _such a poor choice of words._

Cynder thought otherwise, she was perfectly happy with Spyro's choice of words and took a cushion next to him. "Thank you," she replied, "I thought having my scales polished would help with looking for a partner." Spyro could do nothing but nod dumbly, which made Cynder smile.

"So," Volteer began after there was silence for several minutes, "did you two meet anybody nice?" Cynder shook her head; she hadn't really been looking for anyone.

"I did," Spyro said, making Cynder look at him suspiciously. "There was this ice dragon I spoke to, she was called Crystal. She seemed nice, I gave her some chocolate." Terrador and Volteer looked at one another, a look of intrigue on each of their faces. "What?" Spyro asked, growing uncomfortable between the guardians' silence and Cynder's unwavering stare.

"You mean," Terrador began, directing Spyro's sight in the direction of Cyril, "that dragoness there?" Spyro looked, but he could only see Cyril and an ice dragoness slightly smaller than the ice guardian.

"No, she was my size," Spyro started. It was then that the ice dragoness moved and another smaller dragoness could be seen; Crystal. "Oh, yeah, that's her," he said when he saw her.

Terrador gave a light laugh and Volteer smiled to himself. Spyro waited patiently for them to fill him in on the secret. "So you've gone and given chocolate to Cyril's granddaughter, have you? Well, you best hope that she doesn't get too attached to you, Cyril can be pretty temperamental when she gets upset." Volteer then said, giving Spyro a slight shock.

"Cyril has a granddaughter?" He asked.

Terrador nodded. "He was the only guardian other than Ignitus to have a family, and only his survived the war against…well…" he broke off, but Spyro and Cynder knew he was talking about Cynder.

"Well we didn't talk for long," Spyro then said, worried that Cyril might become upset with him, "and I only gave her the chocolate because I was forced to buy it; she knew that."

"It'll be fine," Volteer reassured, "you two barely know each other so even if she did want you to be her partner it wouldn't take her long to get over you." Spyro gave a sigh of relief at that, something that Cynder took as a good sign.

"Well you two should get some rest," Terrador told the two, "I assume you want to see the Celestial moons tonight, they're at their fullest and positioned right above the city at around midnight."

"Oh, I'd love to see them," Cynder exclaimed; the thought of having a moonlit night with Spyro sounded like her idea of heaven. "Do you want to, Spyro?"

"Sure, I love the moons," He replied, thanking the ancestors; it was the perfect time to present his gift to Cynder.

"I'll wake you when it's time then," Terrador then said. Spyro and Cynder nodded and coiled up on their respective cushions. Before Cynder lay still, however, she beat her wings gently in Spyro's direction, and then settled down. She heard Spyro inhale deeply from where he lay, and then saw him look up for something whilst tasting the air. After a few seconds he shrugged and put his head down again to sleep. Cynder smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

"Wake up, young dragons," a deep voice whispered as its owner nudged the two sleeping adolescents. They stirred briefly but otherwise remained asleep. Terrador grumbled. If they didn't wake up they'd miss the celestial moons and possibly a very romantic night. He nudged them harder and they both yawned and slowly rose to a sitting position. "The Celestial moons are at their peak, if you want to see them I'd go now if I were you."

They both nodded and then stretched, several bones cracking into place as they did so. "Where shall we go to see them?" Cynder asked Spyro when they were finished. He thought for a moment and then an idea came to him.

"Remember where we fought that golem that was attacking the city?" He asked. Cynder nodded and immediately knew what he was hinting at.

"Let's go then," She said as she began moving quietly to the exit.

"I just have to speak with Terrador about something first," Spyro replied, making Cynder turn around. "I'll meet you up there, ok?" She hesitated slightly but then nodded.

"Alright, Spyro, but don't be too long," she replied, and then carried on moving towards the exit. When she left the hall and was out of sight, Spyro quickly moved to Terrador's cushions and began to pull out his gifts. Terrador helped him strap them to his back so he could carry them with ease and once they were secured he began to set off after Cynder.

"I'm sure she'll like them, Spyro," Terrador said to him as he left, "your destinies have been linked together since the day you both hatched. If you weren't meant to be partners I'd be more than surprised." Spyro nodded at the earth guardian; he took comfort in the fact that someone else thought she'd like his gift too.

He moved off quietly through the hall, making sure not to wake the sleeping masters or disturb the awake ones from their reading or quiet discussions. He glanced at Crystal as he passed her, hoping that she wouldn't wake up and follow him; she didn't.

The air was cool as Spyro stepped into the open. He looked up to see the moons but found that they were obscured by the many buildings and walls that surrounded him. He looked to the south and saw the tower that was his destination; the many arched walls nothing but a simple silhouette against the night sky.

As he walked through the streets towards it he began thinking about what he would say to Cynder. He didn't want to say just anything; the whole thing had to be perfect. He mumbled sentences to himself trying to find one that sounded right but no matter what he said he always thought that it sounded stupid; not romantic at all.

The few dragons that were out during the late hours looked at Spyro as he mumbled to himself with his head down; naturally they avoided the strange behaving dragon. Spyro of course didn't notice them, too intent with his thoughts. He was so engrossed with them that it wasn't until he was ascending the first staircase that he realised he'd reached his destination. Somewhere above him Cynder was waiting and when he reached her he'd ask her a question he hoped she'd say yes to.

The stairs seemed to just disappear as he ascended them, it was as if he was being propelled along faster than normal and all too soon for his liking he was at the summit, looking at Cynder who had her back to him and staring at the moons. He quietly made his way across the circular mosaic on the stone and began to climb the short flight of stairs that took him to the ledge Cynder was sat on. Now with him on her left she could see him through the corner of her eyes and turned to look at him; the moonlight catching her scales and bathing her in pure beauty.

The first thing she noticed was the four boxes that Spyro had strapped to his back recognising them for what they were. "You took your time," she quietly said to him as he reached her and sat down.

"Sorry," was all he said. They then sat in silence for a few minutes, looking up at the moons and the stars surrounding them. The minutes seemed like an eternity, each waiting for the other to speak first until finally Spyro broke the silence. "Could you help me take these off so I can give you your gifts?" He asked as he tried to undo the straps. She nodded quietly and began pulling the boxes from underneath the straps, the slack created by her actions allowing Spyro to simply move out of them.

"Thanks," He said as he organised the boxes in front of her. "I found these today and thought you'd like them." He opened the first box and Cynder gasped. "At least I hope you like them." He said as he took out the neck piece of the female set of jewellery that went with the male set Cynder was going to buy. Spyro continued to unpack the boxes, laying out the tail, neck and arm pieces in front of her.

"S-Spyro," she mumbled. He looked at her and saw a single tear fall from her eye and drip down her snout where it clung to her scales. Now more than ever she wished she had been able to buy his present. She didn't feel right taking his gift without having one to give in return. "I love these gifts…but," the tear fell when another joined it and they splashed on the floor leaving a dark circle on the cool white stone. "I can't accept them."

Spyro's face dropped and he was about to speak when another voice, a female voice cut in front of him. "Yes you can." Spyro and Cynder both turned to face the staircase that led to the summit of the tower and saw Crystal standing there, laden with boxes. "It was you who wanted to buy your gift from the wind dragon, wasn't it?" She asked Cynder as she struggled forwards. "I recognize your voice; it matches the roar that I heard after I bought them first."

Cynder could only look down at the Ice dragoness, unsure of what exactly her intentions were. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I don't understand your reason for being here." Spyro simply sat there, wondering what exactly was going to happen.

"I followed Spyro," Crystal admitted, "to give him these gifts, but I didn't know he was looking for partnership with someone else." Crystal then began to remove the boxes from her body and place them on the floor. "I want you to have these, Cynder," She then said. Cynder stared at her, and then leapt down to her level so they could talk quietly without Spyro being able to hear.

"Why are you doing this?" Cynder asked quietly as she looked at the gifts.

"Because you love him, I can tell." Crystal replied. "He gave me a gift and I liked him, that's why I wanted to buy him a gift. But you, you travelled the world with him, faced off against terrifying enemies together." Crystal paused as she looked behind Cynder at Spyro. "You deserve him much more than I do. Besides," she said with a smile, "the present was rightfully yours to buy, I shouldn't have paid extra for it when I knew that someone else wanted it first and made it possible for purchase in the first place."

Cynder shook her head, "These were expensive; I can't just take them off you. And what about you? Can you honestly say that you won't regret not giving them to Spyro?" Crystal smiled.

"I barely know him; I was going to give him the gift and then get to know him on a more personal level. I'll be perfectly fine." With that Crystal turned to leave, not looking back at Spyro or Cynder.

Cynder was about to stop her but then stopped. "Thank you," she said. Crystal merely fluttered her wings in response as she descended the stairs.

Without the boxes and the fact she was going down the stairs Crystal found the journey relatively easy. She was mildly upset that Spyro was unavailable to her but then again she knew she didn't know the purple dragon; a relationship could hardly be started just because someone gave someone else a gift. A movement in the shadows brought Crystal away from her musings and she stopped where she was.

"W-who's there?" She asked as she stared into the darkness behind a row of pillars. A series of scratches, a thump and then an 'ow' came as a reply and Crystal tilted her head. "Did you just fall over?" She asked, finding it hard to believe that any attacker would be that clumsy.

"Y-yeah, I did." A male voice answered back and slowly a young wind dragon emerged from the shadows. He sat down on his haunches in front of her and rubbed the scratch on his head where he hit the floor. "I didn't mean to scare you," he said.

Crystal smiled, "It's ok, but you shouldn't really be skulking about in the shadows, what are you doing here?" She asked as she looked him over. His green horns pointed straight back and his silvery scales shimmered in the moonlight. His green wings fluttered idly as he sat and Crystal noticed the slight muscle underneath the green scales on his chest. All in all he was around her age and size.

"I wanted to give you this," he then said as he reached into the shadows and retrieved a small box. Crystal took it from him and opened it to reveal a silver choker with sparkling blue amethysts encrusted into it. "I was hoping that you'd like to spend some time with me…and then maybe be my partner?" He asked shyly, not really looking at her.

Crystal smiled widely at him, and then nuzzled his cheek causing him to blush, the silver scales flushing pink almost immediately. "That's really sweet of you," she replied, "I'd like to spend time with you; you seem like a nice dragon." His face lit up at her answer and they both smiled at each other. "Would you care to take a stroll by some flowers?" She asked as she began making her way down the stairs again.

"Sure!" He replied enthusiastically as he followed her.

--

Cynder smiled at Spyro when she finished bringing up the boxes; she'd finally gotten the perfect gift to give him. "You have no idea how much I wanted to give these to you," she said to him. He was only mildly interested; the fact that she had gotten him a present at all meant that she did indeed care about him. She opened the first box and pulled out the neck piece to the male set of the jewellery.

"Isn't that the jewellery that goes with the one I bought you?" Spyro asked, instantly recognising the piece as the one on the wind dragons stall that was right next to the one he had bought Cynder.

"It is," Cynder replied as she began unpacking the rest. "It was because of me that you were able to buy your gift to me." She placed them out in front of him, each peace of the set shinning brightly. "Do you like them?" She asked, hopefully.

Spyro leaned his neck and rubbed his head against hers affectionately as an answer. She rubbed back, enjoying the warmness of his scales and the intimacy they were sharing. Spyro inhaled deeply the scent on her neck, remembering it from the time he had found the tree with the pink, star-shaped flowers and a few hours ago just before he fell asleep.

They stayed together like that for a good few minutes until Spyro pulled away; much to Cynder's disappointment. He moved closer to her and raised his forepaws to her neck. She remained motionless as his claws groped her neck piece and when he found the clasp the iron fell to the stone with a clank. He then moved onto her arms and tail until all her jewellery had been removed.

When Cynder looked down at her forearms she blushed furiously; the mole that had polished her scales hadn't removed her jewellery to do so. That meant she now had four marks on her body where the ornaments once were, the dull and unpolished scales absorbing the moonlight rather than reflecting it. Spyro laughed when he saw her blush, "It's alright," he said as he picked up the silver neck piece he'd bought her, "you look beautiful to me no matter what you look like."

She smiled at that comment and then shuddered as the cool silver came into contact with her scales. Spyro clasped the silver together and saw that it fit perfectly over the mark left behind by her older jewellery. He then began to fit the rest onto her. By the time he was done every part of her body shone with moonlight reflected from her. "How do I look?" She asked with a sly grin.

"Like the most beautiful dragoness in the world," Spyro replied, making her giggle before she could stop herself, something which he had never heard her do before; he quite liked it.

"Now it's your turn." She then said as she began to fit his jewellery to him. He remained still for her, finding the prospect of wearing it a little daunting but they were designed for males so he didn't see any problems with it, he'd just have to get used to them. "There," Cynder said as she finished clasping the last piece around his tail, "now we match."

"Yes we do, except you get something extra," he said, making Cynder look at him curiously. He reached into the satchel that was still attached to the inside of his right forearm near his chest and pulled out the horn ornament. "I went back and got you this as soon as I remembered," he said as she lowered her head for him to fit it onto her right, longest horn. "And you can also have this one back," he continued as he pulled out the flower he had kept safe for her and slipped it on to her left horn.

A fresh layer of tears was in Cynder's eyes when she looked back up at him. They weren't falling; they just coated her eyes and made them shimmer. "Spyro, that thing I said to you after we defeated Malefor?" She said. He nodded and she smiled at him. "I'll say it again; I love you." She then turned to look out over the city again and the moons high above. "You were the first person to do anything truly nice for me with nothing for you to gain. I've caused you so much grief in the time you've known me, trying to kill you, running away from the temple. And then when Malefor almost took control over me again…when you said you I'd given you nothing left to fight for anymore, I…" She broke off at that point, a quiet sob escaping her.

Warmth came to her as Spyro wrapped a wing around her back and he sat down by her side. "I love you too, Cynder." He said to her. She shuddered slightly beneath his wing but she didn't sob again. "Saving you from being lost in convexity was the best thing I've ever done in my entire life. If it wasn't for you I don't think I would have been able to do the things I did. I don't care that you tried to kill me, or that you ran away from the temple. Everything I've done has been for you, no one else. I'll always be there for you, Cynder, would you be my partner...my mate?"

She turned her head to look at him and then they moved together, pressing their snouts against one another's in a kiss. When they pulled away she leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulders, her tail flicking behind her until it located Spyro's. "Yes, Spyro," she sighed, "I will." She then entwined her tail with his and the two simply sat there in each others embrace and watched the stars.

--

Ignitus smiled as he shut the two books, feeling nothing but pride for both the dragons he had guarded and watched over. He regretted not being able to protect them from the hardships they had faced but he knew they would not be the dragons they had become if he had.

He watched as the black tome and the purple tome began to spin around each other before finally coming together in an explosion of pages. What was left behind was a much larger tome, one that was a mix of the two colours and was written with many more possible paths. "Well, young dragons," he said as he picked up the book and placed it on a stand next to the giant hourglass at the centre of the celestial caves. "It appears you'll accomplish many deeds together, I look forwards to reading and watching what the future holds for you."

The once former fire guardian longed to speak with them and give them advice but he swore to himself that he would not interfere; love blossomed on its own, as did life.

**Well there we go, happy ending for everyone and my first finished story. I may or may not do an extra bonus sixth chapter with a little more...well mature stuff in it but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Reviews are welcome, it would be nice to know that my hard work on this didn't go unappreciated. Thanks for reading and I hope today goes well for everyone with a special someone.**


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